Inside to the out
by DarkAngel-N7
Summary: A self-insert of a sort. Begins at the Spartans being recruited and I intend it to go through to the end of the Halo series. This story has suffered numerous setbacks but IS STILL BEING WRITTEN! ... very slowly, i'm just a bit stuck. Prioirity 2 for completion
1. Induction

22nd March 2012

I didn't remember how I came to be here for a long time, I just knew things that would happen but it's amazing what comes back to you in the end. First let me start with how I came to be who I am today.

If what I can remember is right then this started when I was 17 and doing an orienteering course with some friends. I had wandered off from the group to look for the next set of markers, when I saw movement off to my left along with a glint of metal. I stopped behind a tree and peaked out the other side and saw something that was familiar but it wasn't something that I ever expected to see outside a halo convention or a TV screen. An ODST was stood there just looking at me. This, probably needless to say, confused the fuck out of me. "Are you lost or something? I didn't think any halo events were going on around here." The ODST just looked at me in obvious confusion.

"Halo events? You don't know half of what would happen if a halo had an event short stuff." I smirked.

"Try me." The ODST laughed and shook his head.

"Alright then. If a halo fired which is also known as a halo event then everything that can think in a 38,000 light year radius is basically dissolved." I yawned – making a big show of it.

"Already know it. Along with a few other things about the Human – Covenant war." This grabbed the ODST's attention.

"What do you know about that?" The smirk that I had before came back.

"As much as any major fan of the halo franchise would, which is almost everything." The ODST was silent for a bit.

"I've just had a crazy idea… what if I can get you put into my timestream – just before the start of the war?" Well… this was unexpected. I was tempted by this but if I was going into a war then I was going into it as the best I could be… the best humanity could be… as a SPARTAN. Time to hammer out details.

"I can see the benefits of that, but I would like to set some conditions for my acceptance." The ODST nodded thoughtfully.

"I can understand that, I bet I could guess a few of them as well. Go ahead – I'll send this to command for eval." Win! Okay time to make this sound like an ok plan, then again all I have to do is play the SPARTAN II program card to remind them that such actions are sometimes necessary.

"Okay instead of listing the conditions how 'bout I outline my plan instead?" The ODST nodded. "Alright, first we 'kill' me in this universe/timeline to avoid awkward questions, and then we take my memories and personality and imprint them onto a child as a genetic memory so that I'm a viable candidate for the SPARTAN II program. At the same time as we're imprinting the memories and personality we alter the child's genes to have the markers Dr Halsey's looking for to make sure that I'm selected. I would appreciate a bit of help in training to ensure I make it – including the augmentations, if you don't mind. If I make it then the memories should start to re-surface, so I can make a few changes for the better and help us end the war quicker and with fewer casualties." I paused to think about the less important details, ones that I'd like rather would need. "This isn't necessary but I would like it to be done to make life a bit easier. I would like to be able to match Kelly in speed." The ODST nodded again, then raised a hand to signal for me to wait. He wandered away for a minute obviously talking to someone on the radio in his helmet. Then he walked back over and held out his hand.

"Welcome to the program Number 122." I struggled not to yell at the top of my voice at the rush of exhilaration that I was feeling, as that would both alert the other four people in my group and probably make me look dumb in front of the person who had helped me to live a dream. And probably his commanders that might be watching through the camera on his helmet, as it was I couldn't stop a grin writing itself all over my face.

"So… how am I going to die?"

"I was thinking something to do with TTRs." My grin got wider. This was perfect.

"And how am I going to know it's you?" He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out some sort of headset.

"Here – this is on a secure frequency and I'll talk you through it. So if you come across a group with guns and I tell you it's not us you run, ok?" I nodded.

"Got it."

"Good, now get back to your group and be ready." I decided to tease him just a bit as I fitted the headset onto my right ear. I stood to attention and saluted.

"Aye aye sir!" The ODST obviously rolled his eyes at that even though I couldn't see them.

"I'll see you in a bit kid." We both turned and walked away in different directions. As I got back to the group Nichole looked at me funny.

"Where did you get that headset?" I had already decided on an excuse for this.

"It's for my phone – it was in my bag." This seemed acceptable as they didn't question me further. The day wore on, and nothing much happened aside from Jake falling into a concealed foxhole. When we were two markers away from completing the course the headset the ODST had given me let out a burst of static, then I heard his voice.

"Ok kid, we're all set at the marker your heading to, we've moved it to the other side of a fence that says 'Keep out, Private property'. So when you get to where it's supposed to be look for the fence and be sure you are the one that goes over to get the marker. That's where we come in; when you get there we'll walk out of cover guns pointed and shout a challenge. You stop and raise your hands; we will walk you off then when I give the signal the guy that'll be walking behind you will shoot you in the back of the head with a TTR. Got all that?" Giving no outward sign that I was listening to him I replied.

"Got it, by the way, will you be un-helmeted? And I'm guessing that you won't be in your own armour."

"No we won't and we won't be wearing helmets either."

"All right then, guess I'll see you in a minute."

Nicole's POV

They'd been walking around all day and now they were nearly at the end Nicole decided that she was never going to do orienteering again, it was too tiring. She noticed that Jace was muttering to himself as they entered the woods that the marker they were looking for was in.

A/N for the record Jace is the main guy – I just tried to leave him nameless until the next chapter where he was selected.

They reached the place where the marker was supposed to be and started to spread out to look as they had before, when Jace called out. "I've got it! But there's a problem."

"What sort of problem?" Asked Nicole as she walked over. She stopped when she saw the waist high fence. "Oh that sort of problem." Jace took one look around then jumped over the fence, walking confidently towards the marker 'He is such an arrogant basterd.' She thought 'But he's no worse off for it.' Was another thought as her gaze slipped down his back and came to rest on his ass.

"Stop where you are!" Nicole looked around to see where the shout had come from and froze as men with guns moved out of cover – with all those guns pointed at Jace. Jace backed away from the marker and put up his hands, glancing over to where they were. "Move! That way! NOW!" One of the guys almost screamed. Jace stayed calm, turned his head to where the rest of the group were waiting and winked! How could you wink at a time like that! He had to be ice cold to not be afraid right now.

"Don't worry kiddo's – I'll be right back." Was Jace's comment as he turned to walk away. Just before the group of armed men went out of sight Nicole saw the one to Jace's left make a quick hand signal. A single shot rang out. Nicole saw it hit the back of Jace's head and saw a spray of red come from where the shot had hit. Jace fell, face down. The orienteering group stood there in shocked silence as two of the armed men bent to grab Jace's arms and dragged him away. Nicole heard a helicopter start up and guessed what happened next out of her sight. She didn't know how far off she was.

Jace's POV

"We're gonna need you to fall on your face, so sorry if it hurts you later." I tensed myself in preparation hoping that I was far enough away from the group from collage that they wouldn't notice it. I saw the one on my left give the signal, I'd established that this was the ODST that I had been talking to earlier, he had a nametag on this uniform – Sgt R. Fall. I felt the TTR smash into the back of my head and saw myself start to fall, but I blacked out before I hit the floor.

I woke up in the back of what looked like a pelican's troop bay, but I could hear rotor blades just outside – so this had to be some sort of rotary winged transport craft and not a pelican. "Hey kid you ok?"

"Ugh… well I don't have the headache I expected. And calling me kid all the time is gonna get old fast."

"Alright then Jace, we won't call you kid all the time. That is if you're ok with us calling you Jace." It didn't surprise me that they knew my name, they'd probably done a record search when they'd first come across me it the forest. After all – you don't offer a spot on the SPARTAN II project to anyone unless you know they could handle it. "When you first let me know that we were doing this… why did you call me Number 122?"

"That will be your SPARTAN candidate number. We're going to place you alongside the best Spartan there was – John-117."


	2. Recruitment

Chapter 2

A/N everything from now on told from Jace's POV will be told like its being narrated as it happens even though Jace is recalling it all from a future date.

17th August 2517

Lt. Jacob Keyes POV

Lt Keyes got out of the cryo tube and hacked up the bronchial surfactant – he hated the stuff, it always tasted like lime flavoured snot. He looked at the row of empty cryo tubes, then at the only other tube that was occupied. "Toran, status."

"All systems within normal parameters Lieutenant Keyes."

"And what's the status of Dr Halsey?"

"Dr Halsey is perfectly well Lt. you do not have to check up on me." Keyes flushed and looked away from Dr Halsey's nude lithe form, and went to get dressed and have a shave.

After ten minutes a dressed and freshly shaven Lt Keyes stepped into the bridge of the Han. "Welcome Lt. Would you like to take the communication station and monitor the channels when we enter normal space. If there's so much as a squeak on nonstandard frequencies, I want to know instantly." Keyes pushed himself over to the comm. station and strapped himself in. "Dr Halsey, why are we here?"

"We are here Lieutenant to observe two people… children to be precise. The first of many I hope."

"Children?"

"Two six year old males to be precise. It may help if you think of this purely as a UNSC-funded physiological study." Halsey said with a wave of her hand. Then all trace of the smile she had vanished as she said: "Which is precisely what you are to tell anyone who asks. Is that understood Lieutenant?"

"Yes Doctor." The Lieutenant quickly got back to work.

Roughly 43 minutes later the Han landed on Eridanus 2 at the Luxor spaceport. A short while later the Lieutenant and the Doctor approached Elysium City Primary Education Facility No. 119. The Lt felt ridiculous in the loose fitting civilian clothes that Dr Halsey had given him to blend in. What couldn't be hidden was his military way of standing, which grew more pronounced the more uncomfortable he became. Halsey sighed and gave up on her latest attempt at calming Keyes down and brought up the files she had assembled on the two subjects, tilting it to show Keyes at the same time. "Our subjects." One image showed subject 117 - a typical six year old male. He had tousled brown hair and a sly grin that reviled a gap between his front teeth. A few freckles were speckled across his cheeks. Good – these could be used for identification. The other file showed another six year old boy, but his one had dark red hair – genetically apparently, which Dr Halsey had never seen before and had a confident smile with dark green eyes shining above them. This was subject 122. Both had all the genetic markers that Halsey had flagged – they were as close to perfect subjects for her purposes as science could determine. But an assessment was still necessary; science could only determine so much.

"Is that one of them?" Asked Keyes, nodding toward the grassy hill at the end of the playground. The crest of the hill was bare dirt – scuffed clean of all vegetation. A dozen boys pushed and shoved one another – grabbed, tackled, rolled down the slope, and then got up, ran back and started the process over.

"King of the hill." Dr Halsey remarked. One boy stood on the crest of the hill. He blocked, pushed and strong-armed all the other children. Another boy grappled with the boy on the top of the hill, he also proved the victor - sending the challenger rolling down the hill laughing as he did so. Dr Halsey aimed her palm sized pad, zoomed in on the boy and took a snapshot. It only took a second for the freckle pattern to be matched to the one in 117's photograph. 117 suddenly shouted out.

"Hey rabbit, you want a go? No-one else is good enough!" Halsey frowned in confusion. She was answered by a figure running much faster than a six year old should have been able to, the figure had dark red hair and an athletic build, 122 it seemed had a nickname. Both Halsey and Keyes could see why. 122's speed seemed unnatural as he sped to 117's side a came to a stop with a grin on his face.

"You want me to kick your ass again? So soon after the last time? You usually leave it at least two days." 117 rolled his eyes.

"Yeah well I'm bored so I'm willing to put up with you… this time." With no further warning 117 swung at 122, he didn't bother dodging the punch – he just deflected it with his forearm. Then he launched a sideways kick that sent 117 back two feet, 117 just got back up and closed with 122 again, he then launched a series of lightning fast punches aimed at 122's chest and face. A few connected but most were blocked by 122 who seemed to be moving in a near blur. All the rest of the children had stopped fighting over the crest of the hill and were now stood or sat watching the fight; some even seemed to be laying bets of some sort on the outcome. Halsey and Keyes just watched in astonishment as the fight continued. The fight lasted a good five minutes before 122 stepped back and said in a conversational tone:

"You ready to wrap this up John?" 117 grinned and replied.

"And here was me thinking you were going all out Jace." 122 grinned back, then stepped towards John once more, dodged a punch caught the next one and with the aid of a devious arm lock had 117 on his knees, where he received what looked to be a heavy punch to the side of the face. 117 rolled down the hill and lay at the bottom not moving. "The king is dead! Long live the King!" Cried 122, who then launched himself down the hill and cannoned into a now sitting up 117. Both of them rolled over laughing. Dr Halsey checked that she had recorded the entire thing on her palm pad, and then gave it to Keyes.

"Keep this pointed at them; I'm going to talk to them." With that she left a still awestruck Keyes and walked over to the base of the hill. "Could I talk to you two please?" the small crowd that had formed around the two subjects parted instantly. "You're in trouble now." Muttered one of the other kids. 117 and 122 walked over to her confidently and unafraid. Halsey crouched to bring herself to their level. "Could you tell me your names?" She already knew them of course but this was a good way of starting the convosation. 117 spoke up.

"I'm John and this is Jace." She turned her head to look at 122.

"Jace? That's an unusual name." He shrugged.

"Unusual family ma'am, every one of us." Halsey noticed something then; 117 was stood in a casual stance, but 122 was stood at ease and seemed on the edge of snapping to attention while she talked to him. She decided to test him to see if this was just her imagination or not.

"Well that little show of yours certainly got my attention." There it was – a small involuntary movement which he instantly corrected but there. 122 had very nearly snapped to attention when she had said the word. He recovered well.

"It was just one of our games ma'am, nothing we haven't done before." Halsey was finding it hard to believe she was talking to a six year old boy. He seemed more like a teenager.

"Do you like playing games?" they both nodded. "Well I like games, would you like to play one of my games?" Again they both nodded – 122 a half second after 117, Halsey noticed. Like he deferred to him on decisions. She took out an old earth coin. "We'll use this in our game. It's a coin that was used on earth before the credit system was brought in, can you see that on one side is an eagle and on the other is a face? And in the eagle's claws are..."

"Arrows." They both interrupted her at the same time. She raised an eyebrow – their vision had to be very good if they could see such small detail at this distance. "Yes, now the rules of this game are very simple. I toss this coin by flipping it with my thumb like so." She showed them. "And all you have to do is call what side it will land on before it hits the floor. Ok?" They both nodded. 117 settled into a crouch and his eyes seemed to unfocus as he looked at the coin. 122 by contrast zeroed in on the coin and seemed to tense up. "Ready?" She asked. They both nodded again. With a flick of her thumb the coin went spinning upwards. 122 reached out as the coin came back down as did 117 but 122 didn't have an open palm like 117 but just nudged the coin slightly. 117's hand closed around the coin.

"Eagle!" 117 shouted. 122 smirked. "Face." Was his choice. John opened his hand. The face of the statue of liberty was resting on John's palm glinting in the sun. "Very impressive Jace… tell you what why don't you keep the coin as a reward for winning?" He shook his head as Dr Halsey mentally told herself off for using his name – she wasn't supposed to form attachments to them and using their names were a way to do just that.

"No ma'am, I couldn't take that because I didn't earn it – I cheated. John would have been right but I altered the coins spin so he'd be wrong." But how did he know what John was going to pick? She asked him as much and he replied; "Just one of my gut feelings ma'am." Then 117 spoke up.

"They usually turn out to be right as well." Hmm interesting… if she had time then she would look into this later – there was no doubt in her mind that these two were exactly what they were looking for. "In that case why don't you keep the coin then John?" 117 looked uncertainly at Halsey then 122 but Jace reassured him with a quick nod. His hand closed around the coin.

"Thank you ma'am… I don't suppose you could put in a word for us with the teachers could you – we aren't allowed to play sports anymore because the other kids are tired of us winning all the time." Dr Halsey smiled. "I'll see what I can do." Then she stood up and walked back to the tree where she'd left Lieutenant Keyes while the two children ran back to the crowd at the bottom of the hill with John waving his fist in the air and shouting. "Look!" she arrived back at the tree and immediately addressed Lieutenant Keyes.

"Please tell me you got that!" he passed her the pad confused.

"I got it. What was it that kid with the red hair did? I couldn't see how he worked it out." Dr Halsey just shook her head.

"I don't know but you can't test for everything – you can't test for luck." Keyes snorted.

"I thought you didn't believe in luck?" Dr Halsey just shook her head again while she watched the footage on the pad.


	3. Training begins

Chapter 3

Jace's POV

1st September 2517

It was a couple of weeks after Dr Halsey had shown up at our school. Me and John were walking home after a school day since we lived close together. We had just passed a small wood when a group of 8 men jumped out and grabbed me and John and pulled us back to the woods. John was struggling for all he was worth, and yet I wasn't for some reason, I wasn't struggling as hard as John but I was still struggling enough to be a nuisance. So I got sedated along with John after we had been taken far enough from the path.

23rd September 2517

I woke up in some kind of pod, it was really cold for some reason and then I looked down and saw I was nude. Somewhere in my head a voice said 'ah a cryo tube' I found it odd that it recognised something I didn't. My thoughts were sent down a different path after that as the lid of the tube opened revealing someone in some sort of uniform, he had his name on a patch over his left chest: Sgt R. Fall. "Hey kid, how you doing?" he turned away for a sec then turned back around with some clothes in his hand. I climbed out of the tube grabbing the clothes as I did so, and quickly pulling them on I glanced around. I saw a row of cryo tubes filled with children – John was in the one next to me and a girl with blue hair was in the one after him I looked away because they were all just as nude as I was when I was in the cryo tube. I asked the Sargent who had got me out the tube about it. "Why is everyone naked?"

"You have to be in cryo sleep otherwise you get this really painful rash called freezer burn." I thought about this for a second then accepted it. The Sargent turned towards me slightly as he worked on John's cryo tube. "I don't suppose the AI spoke to you as you woke up did she?" An AI? That would explain the voice I heard. But why would a ships AI be surprised to find itself in a cryo tube? "No it didn't."

"Well we can fix that. Eve, care to say hello?" A column in the corner of the room brightened and a 3d image of a woman formed over it. "Hello candidate 122, it's good to see you recovered without assistance." I looked over at the AI in fascination. It was the first time I had seen one that was an actual AI – I had seen them on programs but never in real life. Sargent Fall turned to the AI. "Eve could you adjust the thawing cycle so that all the other candidates wake up together?"

"Of course Sargent, adjusting thaw cycle now." The waking of the other kids didn't take long and after we were all awake and dressed we were herded to the hanger deck and put on 5 dropships of some kind. Personally I liked the flight to the surface, I'm not so sure about the others in my dropship – there was a lot of complaining, some of it from John as well but I just sat there smiling as the pull of deceleration got stronger.

After landing we were escorted to a room in this military looking building. The 75 of us waited there for a while. We all sat up a bit more when a man dressed in a black uniform, with a lot of medals on it walked passed and went through the doors we had been waiting behind for hours now. We all hoped that we'd be moving soon. Our hopes were realised as we and the people who had been looking after us were lead through the doors that the other man had just gone through. Through the doors was a modest sized amphitheatre. We all sat and looked toward the woman who had come to talk to me and John.

Halsey's POV

Halsey looked up at the 75 candidates, no the 75 children and had to stifle a pang of regret at what she had to put them through. When they had been seated in the risers, she cleared her throat and spoke.

"As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN II." She paused for a second, unable to get the words out. How could they possibly understand this? She barely understood the justifications and ethics behind this program. Most of them looked so confused. A few tried to stand and leave, but their handlers placed firm hands on their shoulders and pushed them back down. Six years old… this was too much to digest. But she had to make them understand, explain it in simple terms that they could grasp. Halsey took a tentative step forward. "You have been called upon to serve," She explained. "You will be trained… and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of earth and all her colonies." A handful of the children sat up straighter, no longer entirely frightened, but now interested. Halsey spotted John and Jace, subjects 117 and 122, the first ones that she had confirmed as viable candidates. John wrinkled his forehead in confusion, but relaxed a bit when he saw Jace lounging, completely relaxed but occasionally glancing at his handlers hand on his shoulder. Halsey thought that was a bit odd as Jace hadn't tried to get up and walk out, she came to the conclusion that it was a gesture of reassurance. "This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents." Almost all the children stirred, only Jace didn't. The others handlers kept a firm grip on their shoulders. "This place will become your home," Halsey continued in as soothing a voice as she could muster. "Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will all make it." Patriotic words, but they rang hollow in her ears. She had wanted to tell them the truth – but how could she? She looked over them all again, meeting all of their eyes and the look from one of them told her that she might not have to say that not all of them would make it, one might know already. Jace looked at her with accusation in his eyes and somehow Halsey knew that he was calling her a liar. ONI had said that they were 'acceptable losses'. Halsey knew that they were wrong – not one of the lives that they would lose was 'acceptable'. Halsey put the thoughts to one side and looked back up to the children. "Rest now, we begin tomorrow." She turned to Chief Petty Officer Mendez. "Have the children… the trainees escorted to their barracks. Feed them and put them to bed."

"Yes ma'am." Mendez said. "Fall out!" He shouted. The children rose at the urging of their handlers. John stood, but kept his gaze on Dr. Halsey and remained stoic. Jace paused behind John and looked to exchange a few words with him, then both of them walked off with slight smiles on their faces. Halsey wondered at that and resolved to ask one of the handlers what Jace had said.

Jace's POV

After Chief Mendez had told us to fall out I noticed that John was looking at Halsey with a blank expression. I decided that I wasn't going to let him focus too much on Halsey's words so I paused next to him and tried to find something right to say. "Look on the bright side. We're here to stop everyone from fighting and killing each other, and in the process we get to win a lot because we will be the best!" It worked; he smiled when I mentioned winning and that smile stayed there as we walked out of the amphitheatre.

24th September 2517

I woke up early the next morning as I always did. It was still dark, I wanted to go for a run like I had done at home when I woke up, so I got out of bed pulled on the clothes at the foot of my bed and quietly walked to the door we had come in. There was a guard outside it who stopped me from leaving. I frowned at him but went back inside anyway.

About half an hour later the person with the short hair with grey in slipped in through a different door than we had come in last night, another seventy four men came in after him. He stopped at the bottom of John's bed.

"Wake up trainee!" John just rolled over and went back to sleep. The man got a baton out of his belt and pressed a button on its grip, sparks flew from the tip. I winced seeing what was coming next. I jumped out of my bed past Sgt. Fall who was at the bottom of mine, ran across the room and jumped onto John's bed.

"John! Wake up! NOW!" he rolled over to look at me.

"Get off me Jace before I punch you off…" I just moved to the side and pointed out all the other kids getting woken up by the uniformed men.

"I just thought you'd prefer me to them." I stopped and grinned. "Besides I could have let you get shocked!" John looked confused. The man behind me stepped closer.

"Allow me to demonstrate." He said and touched the baton to my chest. I flew off the bed as my muscles spasmed. "I appreciate the thought trainee but next time, stay by your bed!" he continued. Turning to face the rest of the room he said: "I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez. The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times." He pointed at the far end of the cinder block barracks. "Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress. Well all except skippy here cos he gets up sooner than the rest of you." One of the girls turned around, it was the one with blue hair, the grey sweats she had just pulled out of the trunk at the bottom of her bed said: Kelly-087.

"How come he doesn't have to wash?" I had managed to stand at this point though I was still holding my chest.

"I had one earlier when I couldn't go for a run." I managed to say though I was still wheezing from the shock the baton gave me. Kelly accepted this but didn't seem to let it go.

"Well what are you all standing around for? Double time to the showers!" yelled Mendez. A stampede followed his words as everyone but me raced to the showers to use the lukewarm water to wash, which was switched to ice cold by one of the instructors – I was thankful that I had showered earlier when all the water was warmish. When everyone had washed they ran back to their bunks and got dressed. When everyone was dressed Mendez yelled again; "Outside, trainees, triple time… march!" We all stampeded out of the barracks on to a strip of grass outside. It hadn't dried out yet and dew was still thick on the ground. I saw dozens more barracks like ours but no-one was around. A pair of jets roared overhead before pulling into the vertical and far away there was a metallic crackle. Mendez barked, "You will make five equal-length rows. Fifteen trainees in each." We all got into lines while Mendez continued to shout at those who were too slow. "You know how to count to fifteen trainee? Take three steps back." I stepped into the third row, John went into the second. I could see that some of us were thinking about how we came to be here. Chief Mendez cut all of our thoughts off just then. "Jumping jacks! Count off to one hundred. Ready, go." One of the boys refused – for a split-second. One of the instructors was on him instantly. One of those shock batons hit him in the stomach, he immediately doubled over.

"Get with the program boot." Snarled the instructor. The kid uncurled and started jumping. God I'd never done so many jumping jacks! My arms and legs ached so bad, but I didn't seem to be sweating as bad as all the rest.

"Ninety-eight – 99 – 100" Mendez stopped, drew in a deep breath. "Sit-ups!" he barked and dropped to the grass. "Count off to one hundred. No slacking." I threw myself to the ground, along with John, but there were a few hesitaters. "The first crewman who quits, gets to run around the compound twice – and then comes back here and does two hundred sit-ups. Ready… count off! One… Two… Three…" Mendez's statement settled the matter in the hesitaters mind and they quickly joined in. after we done with sit-ups we moved on to deep squats, then knee bends. Part way through these John threw up, but an instructor walked over so he just rolled over and got on with the knee bends. "Leg lifts!" For fucks sake! Mendez was like a goddamn machine! And from the way he was pushing all of us he thought we all were as well. I noticed that John couldn't lift his legs anymore, and mine were only just responding.

So we were all relived when Mendez called out. "Rest. Trainers, get the water." Everyone scrambled for the water. It was warm and slightly salty but it did the job so I didn't complain. Draining my bottle I collapsed on the grass, vaguely aware that someone was next to me.

"So… just how long were you awake before the rest of us this morning?" It was Kelly; I knew that she wouldn't have let it go.

"Not long, only half an hour." I replied, turning my head to look at her. She looked back at me with a guarded expression.

"You didn't hear anything did you?" I was confused at why Kelly had asked me this. I said as much. "So you didn't hear anything?" I hesitated, I didn't want to lie and I had heard something. It had sounded like muffled hiccups – like someone crying and trying to cover it up. I wasn't sure if Kelly was asking because it was her and she didn't want anyone to know, or if she was trying to get something on someone else, or if she had heard it as well and wanted to help the person. Unfortunately my hesitation answered for me. She glared and raised a fist at me. "If you tell anyone I swear you won't know what hit you!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Not that I doubt that you would try to hit me but a lot of people have tried and failed before you – I'm just too fast." Kelly looked at me, basically saying 'yeah right…' I rolled my eyes. "It's true! When I'm not so wiped I'll prove it!" I said indignantly. Kelly rolled to her knees and offered me her hand.

"Why not prove it now?" She asked mischievously. I took her hand and prepared to show her just what I could do. But Mendez headed off my fun by yelling for us to get on our feet and run. We all got herded along by the instructors along a gravel path. After a while and after we had passed an airfield of some kind, Kelly winked at me – we had been running side by side for some time now. She winked with a mischievous expression on her face and took off at an impressive pace, completely blowing past the others and the instructors. Not to be outdone I focused my effort to my legs and accelerated past all the others, I thought I caught a smirk on John's face as I blew past him. I caught up with Kelly in a few seconds and just as I did so I heard Mendez say;

"Well it seems that two of your fellow trainees weren't happy with the pace we were setting – so we'll try to keep up with them instead." Everyone else groaned, but I thought I heard John laugh a couple of times. Kelly had slowed a bit up ahead and turned slightly to look back at the others. I pulled up beside her.

"Well since they're already warmed up why don't we give them a real run?" I suggested to Kelly with an evil grin on my face. She laughed at me before coming back with:

"Your evil! But I like the way you think!" With that she returned my evil grin and we linked hands and began to really push ourselves.

Mendez's POV

Mendez watched in amazement as first the blue haired girl then the red haired boy shot past him, going as fast as a warthog with its accelerator pushed to the floor. He thought about shouting them back but came up with an idea to see how well they would cope with dealing with the consequences of another's actions. He turned his head over his shoulder to look at the other trainees. "Well it seems that two of your fellow trainees weren't happy with the pace we were setting – so we'll try to keep up with them instead." All the trainees still with him groaned as the pace was stepped up further although 117 laughed when he was done groaning. 087 had apparently slowed down for 122 to catch up, they talked briefly – Mendez saw and evil look appear on first 122's face then 087's, after which they linked hands and to Mendez's further amazement increased their speed again and vanished around the upcoming bend. Mendez pushed the trainees at a sprint until they had rounded the curve. 087 and 122 were sat on a boulder next to the gravel path talking in a quite relaxed way. "Fall out trainees, take five." He ordered, all the trainees immediately collapsed on the grass next to the path, or at least all but two did – 034 and 137 tried to fall to the floor and stay there but apparently there was something there as when they hit the grass side by side they shot back up giving out pained yelps. 087 and 122 burst out laughing and high fived each other earning then glares from the two who had fallen for whatever the two had planned. Mendez walked over and saw some of the gravel from the path spread out over a roughly half metre square area. He nodded once then turned to the two on the rock; he was plotting how he could bring them down to size in front of the others. He concluded that the best thing to do was to set something up at the playground. He didn't give any of this away however and just asked: "So… you two lovebirds think you can limit yourselves to the snails for the next bit?" Both nodded. Mendez turned back to the other trainees. "On your feet! Time to go to class!"


	4. That's life

Chapter 4

Back to Jace's POV

24th September 2517

After the practical joke Kelly and I had pulled on two of the other kids we kept getting dirty looks off them but we had already planned a way to make it up to them. But none of the rest of the kids knew what we knew, I had found a drawing in my pocket after we had finished running, it had a handwritten message on the bottom of it – 'Enjoy the playground, Fall'. So Kelly and I had planned out a route through most the traps but we also planned to not come first. This was so we didn't appear too good… even though I wanted to.

Eventually we arrived at a building with a scalloped dome and white columns. It was flying the colours of the UNSC – blue background with stars and Earth in a corner. The words NAVAL OFFICERS ACADEMY were chiselled into the arch over the entrance. A woman in what looked like a toga stood on the top step and beckoned to us. As we got closer I saw that she looked old and young at the same time, but it was the motes of light that were orbiting her head that made me come to the conclusion that this was an AI. I had only seen the one on the ship we came on before so the sight still fascinated me.

"Excellent work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez." Her voice was silky smooth. She turned to us. "Welcome. My name is Déjà and I will be your teacher. Please come in. class is about to start. Most of us groaned at the mention of class. Deja began to walk inside. "Of course, if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics." John looked at me then ran up the steps, Kelly exchanged a significant glance with me and we both sprinted up the steps. The rest followed. It was cool inside. There was a tray for each of us with crackers and a carton of milk on. I noticed that John had cleaned his tray in under a minute, I was more conservative – I just drank the milk and kept the crackers for later. We were all tempted to go to sleep for a second before Deja started to tell us about the battle of Thermopylae with the aid of a holographic environment. When she mentioned Spartans John and I looked across the desk in between us and grinned at each other. I jumped on Kelly's desk which was the desk between us; John caught on and jumped on his. I signalled for him to do the fun bit.

"THIS! IS! SPARTA!" He yelled and gave me a side kick to the chest, throwing me off Kelly's desk and onto my own causing it to topple over causing me to slide to the floor. Everyone burst into hysterical laughter as I ended up on the floor. Kelly came over to check I was ok but she didn't need to – we had occasionally done this from our king of the hill spot.

"An interesting display and reference. It was to a 21st century film correct?" was all Déjà had to say about the event. We both nodded, I picked my desk up and we both sat back down and started watching the holographic show again. Shortly after this I noticed John stealing Kelly's crackers that she hadn't eaten yet while she wasn't looking. He noticed me scowling at him and quickly snatched the last cracker. I replaced all the crackers he had taken with my own and told him not to touch them by a hand gesture. He just went back to watching the holo-sim so when Kelly looked at me she saw me munching on my last cracker and all the crackers she had left there. Everyone cheered when the Persians ran off leaving the Spartans victorious. "That's all for today" Déjà said. "We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground."

"Playground?" I heard John say, it sounded like he was hopeful. I knew where we were going thanks to the note me and Kelly had found. We all ran out the room, Mendez and the other trainers were waiting outside the classroom.

"Time for the playground." He waved us all closer. "It's a short run. Fall in." I liked Mendez idea of a short run, it turned out to be two miles. The playground looked exactly like the drawing. It was mostly a forest of twenty metre tall wooden poles, with rope cargo nets and bridges stretched between them. It was basically a maze in mid-air made out of rope, mixed in there were some slide poles and knotted climbing ropes along with a few swings and suspended platforms. "Trainees, form three lines." Instructed Mendez. We all did so without any fuss. "The first person in every row will be team number one. The second person in each row will be team number two… and so on. If you do not understand this, speak up now." No one did. I looked to my right and left, to my right was a boy with brown hair and blue eyes, his t-shirt said he was Kurt and to my left was a red haired girl with green eyes, her t-shirt said she was Linda. "Today's game is ring the bell." Mendez said pointing up at the tallest pole. "There are many ways to get to the bell. I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line." He finished drawing said line as he finished speaking.

"I've got a plan for this ready to go… you want to join in with it?" I said in a whisper to both my teammates. Out of the corner of my eye I saw them both nod. After I'd got their acceptance I leaned forward and tapped Kelly on the shoulder, she was in the row in front of me with John and someone else. John raised his hand.

"A question trainee?" Mendez glared at him.

"What do we win?" If Mendez's raised eyebrow was anything to go by then the question amused him.

"You win dinner, Number 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies and ice cream." Mmmm was my thought and by the sounds the rest were making we all agreed. While John and Mendez had been discussing dinner I had been having a silent conversation.

"Your team and mine? We can blitz this!"

"Yes we can but what about the others?" Kelly brought me down. I thought for a moment.

"What about if we went to the bell and held it? That way they can be slow coaches and we still win." Kelly thought for a moment before agreeing with me. We both snapped back to Mendez when something he said caught our attention.

"But. For there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without food." I stared at him in disbelief. Kelly turned back to me to say that her team was good with our plan. "Make ready." The teams introduced themselves to each other. "Go!" Mendez shouted.

Kelly and I shot forward, replaying what had happened earlier. We raced up the cargo net with John not that far behind and Kurt and Linda behind him with the other kid from John's team. Kelly and I went left and up one of the climbing ropes while John went across one of the rope bridges which flipped after he was over, dumping five others in to the water pit below. Kelly and I looked at each other and shrugged and helped Kurt onto our platform. Leaving him there to help the others, we ran on to the bell. Just as we got to the last climb rope I saw John slide down the slide pole next to the bell pole. He was the first to ring the bell and to cross the line. A few others got to the bell before me and Kelly could stop them but we were ahead of most the teams by the time we went down the slide pole ourselves. And we would have finished that way if not for Kelly tripping on an outcrop and twisting her ankle.

"Ah God!" I immediately turned back, signalling for the others to go on. The other boy from John's team came over anyway.

"Looks like you need help. I'm Sam." Was all he said.

"I haven't even tried to lift her yet. How do you know I need help? Still if you wanna help then I won't complain." We both got under one of Kelly's arms and helped her hobble over the finish line. Mendez looked like he approved, he even gave me a small nod. We glared at John; he had abandoned the plan just so that he could be first. He just shrugged.

"Good work Trainees." Uh-oh Mendez was smiling. "Let's get back to the barracks and chow down." Nearly everyone cheered, I had a bad feeling. "- all except team three." I knew it.  
>"But I won! I was first!" trust John to think that was all that mattered. Then again it was probably mostly my fault that he did.<br>"Yes _you_ were first, but you team came in last." Mendez paused for a second, and then he addressed all of us. "Remember this: _you_ don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means you lose."

John didn't react to anything other than the path in front of him all the way back to the barracks. Something felt wrong as I sat there eating… I looked towards the beds. John, Sam and Kelly were sat on their beds, and they looked so… _sad_. That was when I knew what was wrong. I divided up the food on my plate into four portions. I noticed Mendez giving me a strange look as I did. Ah well… he can think what he likes. I grabbed my plate and shuffled away from the table. Mendez gave me another look but I ignored him and kept walking to the three dejected looking trainees. Kelly looked up as I got close. I waved her over to my bed. The others looked up as she started to move.

"Come on… get over here and I might let you have some of this." I said as I pointed to the plate in my hand. That got them moving pretty quickly. "Okay – this is my bed, so no getting gravy on it ok?" the others nodded understanding. "Hope you don't mind using your fingers then." And started eating. Kelly looked a little hesitant, so I shot her a questioning look.

"I don't like using my fingers to eat…" she looked awkward. I wordlessly handed her the cutlery I had brought with me from the table. "Thanks." There wasn't much talking after that, and when the brownies and ice cream came out I went back to the table to get my share before coming back to the table. As I was walking back I took a second to look at the other kids portions… mine looked bigger than theirs did. The instructor that had stood at the bottom of my bed caught my eye before giving me a smile and a wink. It took a second before I worked out that he had arranged for me to get more on the assumption that I would share that as well. No-one was hungry as we fell asleep that night.

25th September 2517

I woke up early again. I decided I would try and sneak out past the guard to go for my run today. I crept to the door and silently opened it. What! There were two guards stood there! Why are there two? I despaired for a moment before I remembered the door that lead outside. I quietly shut the door and made my way over to the other one. I tried the handle… it was unlocked. I did a little victory dance when I noticed that no-one stood outside this one. Now I could go for my run.

Now my definition of a run isn't most peoples. Most think it means you jog for a set distance – not for me. I set myself a destination and actually run there. If I don't make it, then I do it again and again until I can sprint there. My record is just over half a kilometre, and then if I make it, then I jog back. For today I decide to set the boulder that me and Kelly sat on yesterday as my destination. I set off running.

I always loved the feeling of the wind in my face when I ran. I rounded the last bit of the bend before the boulder at a jog. That meant I would be doing this tomorrow as well. While I sat on the boulder for a bit to rest, I caught movement in the corner of my eye. When I turned to look I saw it was Chief Mendez. He was coming from the opposite direction I had. I wasn't supposed to be out here so I figured I should hide and work my way back around him. So I rolled off the boulder and hid behind it. I heard footsteps approach and then stop, and then a chuckle.

"It's no good 122. I know my eyesight isn't as good as yours, but I still saw you before you moved. Come on out." I looked sheepish as I rounded the rock. Mendez just stood there… is he smiling? He never smiles unless it's something bad…

"Relax trainee, I'm not going to do anything. Well actually that depends on what you're doing out here." He was still smiling… it was creeping me out a little…

"I was out for a run sir. I always went for a run after I woke up back home, so I wanted to keep doing it. It helps me feel good." I was struggling to relax. For some reason I wanted to either run away or stand up straight with my feet together. Where was this coming from?

"Just a run?" I nodded.

"Yes sir." Mendez chuckled again.

"Well then we'd better run back hadn't we?" I did relax when I heard that. I nodded and we set off running back. I had to slow my pace slightly to stay with Mendez but it wasn't by much. When we got to the barracks the other trainees were in Mendez pointed back to the showers. "You go ahead and wash now while we get the others up." I hesitated for a second. "What is it 122?" I looked at my boots.

"Well sir… I had to sneak out for my run today… I was wondering if you could ask the guards to let me out for it in future." Mendez just looked at me for a second.

"I'll meet you halfway – you have to have someone run with you if they let you out. And you have to stay with them and not sprint off into the distance." Well that was acceptable to me. I mean yeah it was annoying that I couldn't sprint, but if it meant that I could go for a run every day then I'd take the deal.

"I can do that sir."

"Sir? Could I do that as well?" Kelly's voice piped up from behind Mendez. He turned to look at her.

"As long as you can keep to the same rules I'll allow it."

"Thank you sir." I couldn't see her but Kelly sounded grateful.

"Good. Now go shower!" Mendez barked. "Both of you!" I scrambled towards the showers and could hear Kelly doing the same behind me.

It was a bit awkward showering next to Kelly and we didn't look at each other the entire time. The others came to join us after a few minutes. Kelly and me finished just as the instructors switched the hot water off so we jumped out while the others complained. We made our way outside while the others were getting dressed. Kelly suggested we do some stretches to warm up before Mendez made up nearly kill ourselves again. It seemed like a good idea so I agreed. After a while I was loose enough but Kelly was still stretching. In particular she was leaning to the side trying to touch her left foot. So I tickled her.

"Jace!" she shouted as she fell over. I just laughed. Kelly got back up and tried to punch me, but I caught her fist before it could hit me.

"I said you weren't fast enough to hit me." Kelly just grinned evilly before hooking a foot around my leg and pushing backwards. I lost my balance and fell pulling her with me in revenge. "That was unfair!" I started tickling her into submission.

"That's enough! Break it up!" one of the instructors came over. I got up and went to take my place in the rows that were forming. The exercise session was pretty much the same as the last one. It still left us all on the floor gasping. On the run to the officers' academy Kelly and I got bored again so we raced off ahead of the others again. Mendez didn't push the others after us this time – he just sent two of the instructors.

"Bet you can't do a flip while you're on this path!" Kelly suddenly said out of nowhere.

"What do I win?" Kelly shrugged.

"I'll give you half my crackers."

"Na you'll need those. John steals them while you're not looking."

"He steals my crackers?" Kelly sounded furious for a second before switching back to casual. "Well if he steals mine I'll just have to repay him somehow." I grinned, picking up the meaning behind that.

"So back to my original question – what do I win?"

"I don't know… I guess I'll have to owe you one…"

"If you're sure." Kelly nodded and I changed my direction slightly. I stepped on one of the stones that lined the edge of the path to get a boost and pushed off it. I tucked in my legs as I rolled forward through the air before uncurling and landing with my feet on the ground, keeping running as if my feet had never left it. I looked over at Kelly. "What?" she just kept gaping at me, so I reached over and shut her mouth. That set us both off laughing so hard we had to stop running, which allowed the two instructors that were following us to finally catch up.

We behaved after that and jogged with the instructors until we reached the academy – 10 minutes ahead of anyone else. When everyone else caught up they found me and Kelly talking to Déjà while lounging on the steps outside the academy. In fact this seemed to be an easier lifestyle than the others did… and it was all down to our gift for speed. Cool.

The lesson today was about wolves. We watched them hunt a moose, working together to take it down. It was interesting to see how fluidly they worked together. It was a little gross as they ate it after killing it, but that was the reason they were attacking it in the first place. John tried to steal Kelly's crackers again but there was a subtle *_Slap_* as John's hand was hit by something moving very fast. He went silent as his brain tried to process how much that _hurt_. His face was hilarious and it was all I could do to not burst out laughing, I noticed Kelly's shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter as well. After he got over it John glared at us for so long Déjà called him out on it, all of us got a good laugh about him 'staring at Kelly'.

After class it was time once again to go to the playground. Kelly and I paced ourselves on the way there. I didn't know why but I had a really bad feeling about going on the playground this time, it got worse when I saw Mendez's thoughtful expression.

**A/N I have an idea for Jace but I can either reveal it now or later in training. Send me a review or PM with your choice.**


	5. Authors Note!

Ah ha! I am alive and have finally updated a story! It must be the end of the world or something like that…

Anywho you all have my deepest apologies for being away for so long I just finished dragging my ass out of a huge pity patch because my college let me go back for the first day before telling me to elsewhere… maybe I would if they hadn't left it so late so every course I would want to take was already full!

But putting aside annoying events beyond my control I am back and starting to write more often, unfortunately for you guys that also means I am polishing off one of my original stories that I left behind to work on fanfiction so my updates still won't be superfast, but they will exist!

On a side note – I know that it's my most popular story but I am going to have to put Inside to the out on hold while I get back into the groove of things. Now wait before you all start yelling at me! This is because I don't know if my writing has degraded while I have been moping and thinking oh poor me, and you guys deserve that story at its best. So you know… that's why it's being left alone for now.

Ok that's all I can think of right now, oh! Wait, I'm also gonna take down When your needed as I was reading back over it and it just sounds childish to me so it's coming down, if I get twenty people or more asking for it to come back I might rewrite it but it will basically be a new story if it does.

Right I think that is it now so I'm gonna say bye for now and say to watch out for my new projects which will be coming soon and to live a good life: 'cos you never know when some asshole will decide you look better in a pine box!

Fly high, Fly hard  
>DarkAngel-N7<p> 


	6. New Notice!

You know those normal days? Those days that just go from waking up, going to school and getting bored out your mind, going home, maybe go out with friends then crash out and sleep 'til 10 the next day?

Yeah I don't have those. Oh I _could_ but I'm not allowed. Hell I barely remember my own name anymore; oh I remember my designation, but not my name… not really. I don't even exist except in a few _very_ highly secured databases, and most of those are in paper form those that aren't are isolated – no outside connection.

All that's left of me beyond those rare places are rumours, whispers, _fear_. To those I'm bound to I'm the most successful weapon ever. To those they send me after I am a shadow in the dark, that small flicker of motion in the corner of your eye, that brush of air across the back of your neck…

I am the Ghost of MI6. I am Fifteen years old. I am an Assassin. I have a 98 percent success rate.

I am Rhith.

And I have found a way out.

**AN: Right then boys and girls and… various others. I LIVE! And I have the capability to use word again so expect updates for major stories in a couple of months at most. This is a preview of the idea that finally pushed me to fix the problem I had with word and start writing again (oh so many ideas in my head!) so expect more of this as well; it will be an Alex Rider story and I expect it to stay quite short, however I already have ideas for sequels so there may be that as well. So yeah I'm here and I'm writing so all is good in the world.**

**DarkAngel-N7 – signing out.**


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